FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2-14-04

Men's College Basketball: Columbus State 69, AASU 64

Release Courtesy of CSU Sports Information

COLUMBUS, Ga. – Armstrong Atlantic State used a sizzling shooting performance in the second half to catch and pass Columbus State here Saturday, but the Cougars got some clutch shooting and defense of their own late and won an important 69-64 Peach Belt Conference game. The win solidifies the Cougars' hold on second place in the PBC South, and should also gain the team some ground in the South Atlantic Region standings.

The Cougars hit five three pointers and held the Pirates to just 27 percent shooting in the first half to lead by as many as 11 points. AASU's Brian Bain canned a pair of free-throws with 58 seconds left in the half to bring his team to within nine at 34-25. That is the way the half ended as a Deshawn Bowman three-pointer rattled out for CSU.

The Pirates wasted little time in getting down to business in the second half, outscoring CSU 11-4 in the first three minutes to cut the lead to two. A Justin Wood three-pointer made it 38-36 at that point. CSU stretched the margin back to six points five minutes later on a John Thomas put-back off a Kendrick Jones miss. That made the score 47-41 with 11:42 left.

The Pirates then used a 10-0 run to take their first lead since the 11:45 mark of the first half. Brian Bain started the run with a three-pointer and Jason Sanders put a bookend on it with a trey of his own at the 8:22 mark to put the Pirates up 51-47.

The two teams would swap the lead on a couple of occasions over the next several minutes. AASU held a three-point lead, 64-61, on a Brian Bain jumper with 1:56 to play, and would not score again. After a Yandel Brown jumper pulled the lead to one, Kendrick Jones sank two free-throws to give CSU the lead for good with 57 seconds left.

A huge block of a Bain jumper by John Thomas with 38 seconds left gave the Cougars the ball and from there, CSU went to the line six times, hitting four of those to seal the win. Chris Jackson helped preserve the Cougar lead with a huge rebound off a Bowman miss at the line with 24 seconds left. Brown's pair of free-throws with eight seconds left put the finishing touches on the win.

Bain led AASU (16-7, 7-5) with 19 points to go with seven rebounds. Jason Sanders added 15 points and four assists. George Bush led the Pirates with nine rebounds as they out-rebounded the Cougars 40-34.

CSU placed three players in double digits, led by 27 points by John Thomas. The senior scored 16 in the first half and also pulled down 13 rebounds in the game for his eighth double-double of the year. Brown had another slow start, but came on strong to score 20 points, including 12 in the second half. Deshawn Bowman had yet another strong game, scoring 12 points to go with six rebounds, six assists, and three steals.

CSU will now prepare for a showdown with the PBC-leading Owls of Kennesaw State on the road on Wednesday. AASU hosts GC&SU on Wednesday in PBC action.

-Pirates-